Midweek Politics: Locked Horns, Pitched Battles And Marches Of Discontent
By Dharisha Bastians -September 27, 2012
Dharisha Bastians
The academics are marching. The students are marching. The Muslims are marching. Every day hundreds images of throngs of people shouting slogans and demonstrating blare across television screens, newspapers and of course, the internet. SMS news alerts about road closures and barricades abound as popular discontent rises to the surface through trade union agitation and ethno-religious outrage. In fact, with the opposition largely impotent, public discontent is being channelled into people’s movements that are taking arms against unpopular Government policy and rampant corruption.
In the north from Point Pedro to Jaffna, in the south from Galle to Colombo and in the central hills from Kandy to Colombo, university students and teachers are engaged in long marches to push for education reform. Over a period of five days, the Federation of University Teachers Association (FUTA) and the Inter University Student Federation (IUSF) will gather support along the way from Galle and Kandy respectively, and finally converge upon the capital on 28 September for a mega rally in Colombo.
Last Wednesday (19), just five days before the marches were scheduled to get underway, IUSF Convenor Sanjeewa Bandara was arrested by the Colombo Crimes Division on charges of vandalism and assault of police officers.
Remanded till Tuesday (25) Bandara was released on bail by the Fort Magistrate, but interestingly when his case was taken up this week, CCD officers made a strange request of the court. The officers requested the magistrate to issue an order confining all student protests to Hyde Park grounds in Colombo. The magistrate denied the CCD request, saying he had no authority to issue such an order, but the appeal by the Police made it clear that the ruling administration was very keen to call a halt to the long marches to Colombo.
The IUSF march having commenced as scheduled on Monday (24), had a new battle-cry since their leader was incarcerated – to demand the release of Sanjeewa Bandara. Bandara leads his protestors in demonstration against Government moves to privatise tertiary education with student unions claiming they are defending the right to free education in Sri Lanka.
